The Union government on March 18 approved Rs 7,915 crore road projects in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana under its flagship road building programme National Highways Development Project (NHDP). The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), in its meeting accorded approval to the four projects to be built under phases III, IV and V on Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.

The CCEA has given its approval for the investment proposal for the implementation of the 'Bhavnagar-Veraval' section of National Highway-8E in the state of Gujarat under NHDP Phase IV on DBFOT basis in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) (Toll) Mode. The cost is estimated to be Rs 3338.86 crore, an official statement said about the Gujarat project.

The four-laning of the 260 km stretch, it said will expedite the improvement of infrastructure in the state and also reduce the time and cost of travel for traffic, plying between Bhavnagar and Veraval. This stretch is an important corridor of the coastal region of the state, having a number of ports and will help in the socio-economic uplift of this region, it added.

The other project approved by the CCEA was Rs 1,691.91 crore six-laning of 146.31 km 'Chakeri-Allahabad' section of National Highway-2 in Uttar Pradesh under NHDP Phase V in BOT (Toll) Mode. The cost is estimated to be Rs 1,691.91 crore including the cost of Rs 338.25 crore towards the cost of land acquisition, resettlement & rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities.